To What Depth Have We Sunk?
Did you ever sit back, after looking at photos, and wonder why men’s and women’s shirts are cut so differently. Seriously, take a look at the usual clothing items and you’ll see that many women’s tops show some amount of chest, and that this is not common for men’s tops.
Men’s tops come in three basic varieties—button down, partial button down (polo-shirts and the like) and no buttons. I mean, there is the tank-top and maybe a small V-Neck, but to see a man showing upper chest is very unlikely.
And yet, when it comes to women, it seems that sometimes it’s all about how far down they can go without showing something. And I can’t begin to list the names of all the different cuts.
It’s All About the…
–Wait! Can I say this on a family website?
Seriously, though, there really is no other logical conclusion about why shirts on ladies differ from that on men. There are certain areas of the female body that attract men, and obviously this is one of those areas.
As far back as I can recall, women have used the depth of the front of their shirt to entice men, and today is no different. Therefore, if a young lady is seeking to be modest, she’ll take into account what a low cut top is trying to do, and avoid sending those signals.
Ok, Now I’m Blushing…
But Erin wants something more concrete:
I’d like to know at what point does a v-neck top (or any top for that matter) become too low? I guess I kind-of figured that sometimes even if it didn’t *show anything* it could still be immodest, but I’m not sure where the line is…
I’ve heard various rules of thumb—and there is a pun there, but you’ll have to wait for it—that try to help judge just how low is acceptable. One measure I heard around Bob Jones University was the thumb and pinky rule.
Standing upright, place your thumb on your Adam’s Apple and place your pinky on your chest. Your shirt should not go lower than that.
Though I think in some cases that this rule wouldn’t work for everyone—some people are really good at being disjointed, etc. So how would you say what’s too low?
V-Necks Have Less Tolerance
Because V-Necks have a point to them, they tend to go lower than some of the other tops that I’ve seen. And it also comes to a point and draws the viewer’s attention to the natural division on the – er—chest. It’s the V-Necks that are the most likely to plunge, as it were.
The more skin that’s viewable, and the more of a chance of noticing the top of the breasts, the better the chance that it will draw attention and/or create a stumbling block.
So, the general rule would be “don’t show a lot of skin.”
One Last Word
My last bit of advice would be to make sure that when you bend over that you’re modest. Some V-Necks would be immodest when you go to get something, or when the shirt slides down. For me, this is what I would lump in with maintenance. If you’re finding that you have to adjust your shirt a lot to be modest (even if it’s subconsciously) then I would find a different shirt.
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Ahhh…MIn, would now be the wrong time to ask what’s “a lot” of skin? Yes…I thought it might be a bad question… :-) (You don’t need to answer that.)
But seriously, your article makes sense. It’s the “degree” and “depth” of the V-neck, not so much that is is a V-neck, right?
Also, I would point out that there are a lot of modest shirts (i.e. high-necked t-shirts) that can still gape when a woman bends over. So women should always be careful, even the shirt isn’t low-cut or a v-neck.
(Have I mentioned lately that men have it so, so easy?)
@Erin L.: You can ask, and I’ll try to answer it later. :)
Anna Grace pointed out after I targeted V-Necks that it’s not all V-Necks. Some would make an argument about the “arrow” that it forms, but I don’t know that it is that big a deal.
And you’re right about bending over.
When I was at Csehy Summer Music School, I noticed that some Flutists pressed the flute up to their chest when they bowed after a recital. I asked one of my friends why, and she told me that it was a modesty issue.
We need more of our young ladies trained this way.
The thumb and pinky rule would never work for me. First, do women have Adam’s Apples??? Second, even if I stuck my thumb on my chin, my pinky is right in the center of my, er, “chest area.” :)
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@Jennifer S: I’m with you on that one! I have fairly small hands, and if I followed that one, I’d be, um… scandalous!
Even when I put my thumb on my chin, my little finger is at a barely allowable point, and I’m not short (5’8″).
This rule works for me, I think I’ve got no layering shirt wich goes beneath this point, do you know why its called “adams apple”? I wanted to look where it supposed to be, gosh some religions are so weird.
Maybe with that rule you are supposed to keep your fingers together. When I do that, then the only part visible is only a little lower than my collar bone. If I open my fingers… that changes.
I’m short and I have small hands. I tried the thumb and pinky rule and it would not work for me…at all. I see a lot of young guys wearing V-necks these days and it is is so gross and feminine looking!
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